


Time and space

by underwoodblood



Category: Killing Eve (TV 2018)
Genre: Birthday, Dancing, Domestic, Drinking, F/F, Kissing, Vulnerability, that's probably more Sandra and Jodie than Eve and Villanelle I'm sorry I just wanted something soft, underage mentions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:41:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23993953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/underwoodblood/pseuds/underwoodblood
Summary: "No more nice birthday memories. But it was fine. Villanelle liked celebrating other people’s birthday more anyway. She’d make silly surprises, order huge cakes, and sing funny songs. And sometimes Konstantin would like it, sometimes not. Sometimes she’d kill someone on their birthday just to be able to party a bit. It was tricky though, most of the parties were dull and posh, so she mostly just did her job and left.That day was different though. Because today, finally, she decided to visit Eve.As a treat."
Relationships: Anna Leonova/Villanelle | Oksana Astankova, Eve Polastri/Villanelle | Oksana Astankova
Comments: 18
Kudos: 148





	Time and space

**Author's Note:**

> Translated into Русский: [Время и Пространство](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24073534/) by [LaVpaki_Fiish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaVpaki_Fiish/pseuds/LaVpaki_Fiish)

It was Villanelle’s birthday. 28th birthday and because of that she decided to braid her hair in two dutch braids. It always annoyed her when she had to do it on her own, always had to use two mirrors and all that. It was nicer to just sit and feel someone else taking care of her. She didn’t want to go to the hairdresser though, It’d take too much time, and besides she was a master of braiding at that point. So she had done her hair and put the bluest, nicest, most comfortable Molly Goddard dress she could find. 

Usually she didn’t celebrate her birthdays. No one never remembered about it anyway. Dasha used to say birthdays are useless, Konstantin used to be too busy to stay with her and actually do something. Besides, it wasn’t important anymore, they were both gone and they couldn’t ruin her mood anymore.

Last time she really celebrated her birthday was with Anna a very long time ago. It was Thursday. Easy to remember, because at Thursdays Villanelle, well, Oksana always used to practice with Dasha. That day though she didn't show up for training. Of course she regretted it a bit afterward, only a bit, when she had to do a hundred pushups the next day. She still thought it had been worth it. Anna made her a small ptichye moloko cake and brought it to school with candles and everything. Oksana knew she had never done it before for any student, so she felt very special. It was easy to feel unique with Anna doing all those nice things, even writing _С днем рождения_ on a cake with hearts instead of o’s. When they ate the cake in an empty classroom Anna knew it was the only cake Oksana would get that or any other day. And then, after what Villanelle would call the best birthday party she’d ever have, they had an afterparty at Anna’s flat.

And amazing sex on a chair in her living room.

That was it, no more nice birthday memories. But it was fine. Villanelle liked celebrating other people’s birthday more anyway. She’d make silly surprises, order huge cakes, and sing funny songs. And sometimes Konstantin would like it, sometimes not. Sometimes she’d kill someone on their birthday just to be able to party a bit. It was tricky though, most of the parties were dull and posh, so she mostly just did her job and left.

That day was different though. Because today, finally, she decided to visit Eve.

As a treat.

Eve was a funny thing. She had ruined her own marriage and kissed Villanelle and then didn’t even want to see her. It was a bit alarming, but a pile of relationship issues books later Villanelle realized it was normal to have problems in a relationship and she just needed to give Eve some “ _time and space_ ”.

So she did exactly that. No text messages, no visits, no personal murders. Well, she had been visiting, a lot, an awful lot, but as long as Eve had been oblivious to that fact, it’d been all fine. 

Eve seemed to be alone and a bit sad. She’d go to work, eat unhealthy food, pretend she wasn’t there if anyone wanted to visit her. Not that it happened very often, she didn’t have many people close to her. She seemed bored. As long as the Moustache was out of sight there was nothing to be worried about though and he really really wasn’t going to come back. Some strange guy had appeared in sight and tried to woo Eve though, but she didn’t seem interested and besides Villanelle took care of it quickly, so it really was fine.

Quite romantic in a way. Taking care of Eve. Then working for a bit and again coming back to London to “ _spend some time_ ” with her. Sometimes Villanelle even left some gifts on a doormat. Nothing too big, always something personal and honestly, Even didn’t seem to mind. 

It was taking too long though. Villanelle wasn’t too patient and she missed actually talking to her girlfriend. _Really talking_ like when they’d been partners, before the whole misunderstanding accident in Rome and everything. There wasn’t a better time to come out and visit Eve trying to fix their relationship than the birthday. She couldn’t be angry at Villanelle that day and besides, that _giving her time and space_ situation couldn’t be endless.

Informing Eve about the plan wouldn’t be wise. She’d get annoyed and again said something about not wanting to see her.

Funny what people in love said to each other.

That’s why it was a great idea to make a surprise. Eve still had been working in that boring Asian restaurant and always arrived home at 5 PM, so it wasn’t hard to break in a bit earlier and wait. 

So Villanelle did exactly that. With a drop of a perfume Eve’d seemed to like so much on her skin and a bottle of Moët in hand she entered the flat. It wasn’t exactly _breaking in_. The door needed just a firm push to swing open. Eve lived in an awful neighborhood, really. Dangerous even. Some criminals could’ve burglarized any second.

Villanelle took her shoes off by the door not wanting to upset Eve at the start. The flat was dark and boring, but at least she could snoop around a bit. She started with the kitchen only to find a phone number stuck on a fridge. Three seconds later, whoever that _Megan - 01632 96058_ person was, she was lying dumped in a trash.

Villanelle wanted to find some champagne glasses, but of course Eve didn’t have any. Searching for them she noticed a pair of cute, floral teacups ot the back of a cupboard. She almost reached for them but changed her mind quickly. They were very old fashioned and reminded her of the ones everyone in Russia seemed to have. It was ridiculous, but she just couldn’t shake her bad mood off that day and those stupid teacups weren’t making things any better. Even the beautiful dress and perfume didn’t seem to help. Anticipation to see Eve did, only a bit.

Waiting was exhausting though and the temptation to try out the bed was simply too strong. Just thinking about how it must’ve smelt of Eve made Villanelle squirm from across the room. She stared at the bed for a while, hoping it would help somehow, but quickly gave up and hopped on the bed. It was her birthday, after all, she deserved something nice, as a treat.

The sheets really did smell of Eve. Not any perfumes or shampoo, just her. The sheets smelt of her body and oh god, Villanelle had missed it. She lied down and tucked her hands under her head. It was almost as close to Eve as she wanted to be.

  
  


___________

Eve threw her bag on the floor. She wasn’t even really hungry, pretty typical these days. Fatigue always won and before she could decide what to eat she was usually dead asleep. How ironic as for someone who’d been making food all day.

That day was no different. 

_What was it anyway? Ah, Friday. Those were the worst._

Firstly because they were busy and secondly because they ended quickly and Eve had to deal with two empty days of the weekend.  
She didn’t have much to do apart from her work. She kept rewatching Grey’s Anatomy, not even in a chronological order. Just random episodes, whatever. 

It was hard to find a new purpose in life. Not that Eve really tried to do so. Everything was just so… pointless. She couldn’t work for MI6. Fuck them, anyway. She couldn’t start running after _assassins_ again and she didn’t even want to do that anymore. Villanelle was still out there, somewhere. And what Eve could do about it? She wouldn’t kill her, god, no. Not after everything.

She fantasized about doing so sometimes, of course, she had a right to. _Especially_ after everything. But she knew she wouldn’t, so it was better to just let Villanelle be, let her leave a postcard or flowers on the doormat sometimes, but keep away from her.

Eve hung her coat and let her hair down. After eight hours of work the urge to make her hair just fly in every possible direction was too strong.

She was ready to wrap herself in a quilt and not go out until Monday. 

Then all of a sudden her eyes went wide. 

There was Villanelle lying in her bed, snoring quietly. 

_God, help me._

Eve was sober, absolutely sober and conscious, and yet she was seeing… 

That was enough.

Of course Villanelle would do it at some point. Eve couldn’t forgive herself for being naive enough to hope she’d eventually get bored with all this. Of course not.

It was hard to decide if waking her up was wise. Villanelle looked too innocent to hurt anyone and besides, even if Eve was furious, she was furious mostly at herself.

“Hey, wake up.” She said loudly not moving even an inch. “You hear me? What kinda assassin you are? You should be alert.”

It made Villanelle stretch like a cat. She blinked a few times and smiled sheepishly.

“Hello, Eve.” 

“What are you doing here?”

“Visiting?”

“It’s not funny. What do you want?” Eve still didn’t move, observing, boiling with anger and confusion. Watching as Villanelle got up and paced to the kitchen.

“I’ve brought champagne. It’s good. Don’t you think we should move on at last?”

“Move on? What are you talking about? I told you to stay away.”

“And I listened.” She came back and stood right in front of Eve. “I gave you time and space and everything.”

“You don’t understand.” 

“No, Eve! Don’t start with that bullshit.” She raised her voice only to whisper after a while “I wanted to see you.”

Those big, hazel eyes were piercing Eve and she couldn’t stand it. It was too frustrating, knowing Villanelle could probably read everything just by looking at her. 

She heard herself asking almost inaudibly “Why?”

Villanelle leaned slightly. “You know why.”

That was it. That gazing and grinning and pacing around and bringing champagne and saying words Villanelle didn’t understand. Eve had enough. It was like putting the same record again. Villanelle making her vulnerable and naive just to let her down afterward. She was tired of that shit.

“Get out.”

“What?”

“You’ve heard me.” She swallowed her guilt, knowing the words would hurt. Especially that Villanelle seemed genuinely happy to see her.

“No.”

“Villanelle, I’m tired.”

“No, Eve. I am tired.” She was furious. And close to tears. "I know you want me. But it would be so much easier if you liked me too.”

A chuckle escaped Eve’s mouth. “You want me to _like_ you?”

In moments like this Villanelle usually backed off. Because she would say too much, because she would feel too much and it felt dangerously close to embarrassing herself. 

But why she would care? Nothing mattered anymore and she was hurt.

“Yes. And you’re just rude. And I just wanted to spend my birthday with you.”

“Why?” Eve asked even though somewhere deep down she felt what was the answer. 

Villanelle didn’t have anyone too. She lost everything and she didn’t move on even a bit. Hadn’t found another target, hadn’t gotten bored. She was mad, dangerous, unpredictable, unstoppable even. And yet she’d decided to wait for her.

It was naive of Eve to think she was any better. She was convinced they were so different, but that wasn’t true. Both of them standing in the same place, both alone, with nonexistent morality and ruined lives. 

“I thought we could have fun.”

Eve sighed and shook her head. She’d expect anything but not Villanelle pouring her heart out on a Friday evening.

“Fine. I don’t care if you kill me. I’m not scared.”

“I know that.” 

They smiled at each other. It wasn’t important who did it first, probably Villanelle, too happy to stop herself. 

After a moment of Eve tidying up the kitchen, cleaning the table, they sat awkwardly facing each other. It was so strange to spend time together in such domestic circumstances. Talking and drinking. 

Villanelle didn’t feel awkward at all though. 

“I like your outfit.”

Eve looked down at herself and realized she was wearing her most ridiculous Ninja Turtles t-shirt this whole time. 

“Oh my god!” She burst out laughing and hid her face in her hands.

“Where did you get that from?!”

“I have no idea, I swear.”

“Did you rob a ten-year-old or something?”

It was so surreal to see Villanelle like this, playful, normal, slowly getting more and more relaxed with every word and sip of champagne. She was still gorgeous, really beautiful, but more like a woman Eve’d pass on Kensington Square and not a dangerous serial killer. This time she also didn’t try to intimidate or dominate Eve. And funnily it worked even better.

“What do you like to do on your birthdays then?”

“Oh, usually I don’t do anything.”

“Well, what would you like to do?”

Villanelle only bit her lip and raised his eyebrows in the most unrealistic act of innocence ever. “I didn’t plan as much.”

“What?”

“I didn’t expect you to give up so easily! ...or at all.”

That made Eve feel a little more confident, knowing that she wasn’t that predictable after all. Villanelle’s mind and strength were always something Eve’d admired, but being in charge for once felt good.

“I just want normal things, Eve.”

___________

Eve was a master in normal things. Well, she had been, actually. Long time ago. Apparently Villanelle destroyed any normalcy she could reach. And she also destroyed Eve’s. But before that, when there’d been a house instead of flat, dinners instead of takeaways, Eve’d handled it. Didn’t like it as much as she liked her MI6 life, but it’d used to be enough.

They ordered some food. Not the kind of food Eve’d eat alone, probably two days in a row. Proper dinner. No dumplings, they both agreed, absolutely nothing Italian, bad memories, nor French. They both agreed on curry. 

It was a very normal thing to do to order food with someone. They also ordered some alcohol, because Eve shelves were empty. It was nothing extraordinary but at the same time… it was. Villanelle never knew domesticity so that was everything she wanted. Her eyes couldn’t stop following Eve’s moves, the way she busied herself with tidying a bit, making some place for them to actually enjoy their time, and she was doing all that with such ease. She moved around the flat, much happier than an hour ago, chatting about everything.

Then Eve started searching for something _normal_ to wear and that was enough for Villanelle to find a tv remote. She didn’t want to find anything in particular, just to skip through channels annoyingly fast.

When Eve came out in a beige jumper she stopped and took a look. 

“Oh, leave it. It’s Everywhere, I love that song!” 

It took Villanelle a second to understand. Ah, she landed on some music channel and now Eve started to hum that Fleetwood Mac song. 

What was even more unusual, she started to move to the music.

“What? Don’t look at me like that!”

But Villanelle just couldn’t stop looking at her like that. It was like when she watched her kill. Except this time Eve seemed to be very happy. And wouldn’t be angry at all.

“Come on.” She said and reached out for Villanelle. “It’s not a party without dancing.”

And they just started to dance, just like that. Their hands never really let go of each other, wandering, sliding, but not leaving.

For the first second Villanelle was absolutely starstruck. She was moving mechanically, but her mind was focused only on Eve. That Eve quickly became one of her favorites. Not that yelling Eve was bad, no, but this one seemed to really like her.

Quickly the happiness stopped paralyzing Villanelle’s mind and started pushing her toward actions. She started bouncing following Eve’s moves. It was silly. That special kind of silly she always wanted to do with someone. 

Eve laughed and laughed and it was the best sound on earth. It felt heavenly just to look at her.

“Are you laughing at me?” She asked playfully, her accent hardened with the alcohol.

There was no answer.

There was a palm on Villanelle’s nape and a kiss. Hard and firm, but not forced. Nothing needed to force her to kiss Eve back. This time, she wasn’t so surprised by it. She grabbed Eve’s waist with her hands and pulled closer not parting their lips. She could feel hands embracing her neck. Eve wanted this, she really wanted this with her. There was no denying. No other option. Villanelle couldn’t be wrong about this, even if she was wrong in so many things before. She was sure, it always had been Eve.

“I think you should stay the night.”


End file.
